1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a system and method for administering gambling or betting, and more particularly to the administering of exotic bets, which generally involve selecting the winners of multiple events, or the order of finish of multiple contestants in a single event.
2. Description of Related Art
Gambling or betting on outcome of events is an organized activity in many parts of the world. For example, betting on horse races is popular in many parts of the world, including the United States. Legalized gambling on sports events is commonly referred to as “sports betting.” Events wagered upon need not be sporting contests, but may be any type of contest, such as an election, outcome of a television show, etc. Discussed in the context of horse racing, common types of bets include: selecting the winner of a race, a horse finishing in first or second place (i.e., place betting), or a horse finishing first, second or third (i.e., show betting). U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,921 issued to the inventor of this application describes the system and method provides for betting on the outcomes of sporting contests or events therein before the contest is complete. Incoming bets may be placed in a queue before being processed, and their effect on pool balance evaluated before accepting or rejecting the bets. Bets in the queue may be accepted only in matching sets on all of the participating contestants, so as to prevent any imbalance of the betting pool. Alternatively, the bets may be rejected with an indication of the change in betting terms which would be required if the bets are to be accepted. Bets may be placed on the finishing order of the contestants, such that there will be multiple winning bets for a single contest. This system and method can also be used to play games, where the contestants do not incur actual financial obligations. Another popular class of wagers generally referred to as “exotic bets”. These generally involve selecting the winners of multiple races, or the order of finish of multiple horses in a single race.
It is desirable to provide a system and method for fixed odds exotic and straight betting with pari-mutuel rules.